


Champion

by Empire



Series: Memoirs of a Vault Hunter [1]
Category: Borderlands (Video Games)
Genre: AU, Action/Adventure, Borderlands 2, Eventual Romance, Eventual Smut, F/M, M/M, Multi, Other, Violence, borderlands - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-09-28
Updated: 2018-09-28
Packaged: 2019-07-18 14:51:41
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,562
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16120778
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Empire/pseuds/Empire
Summary: Okay, I'm going to rewrite this sooner rather than later, because I had a lot of things I wanted to do with it and I tried to do all of them at once the story ended up muddled and it's already dragging on which is never a good thing. So, I'm gonna go back and rework it, do the things I wanted for this specific part of the series and then get started on the other parts. Yeah. So, look forward to that, or maybe don't. Idk. Sorry.





	Champion

**Author's Note:**

> Okay, I'm going to rewrite this sooner rather than later, because I had a lot of things I wanted to do with it and I tried to do all of them at once the story ended up muddled and it's already dragging on which is never a good thing. So, I'm gonna go back and rework it, do the things I wanted for this specific part of the series and then get started on the other parts. Yeah. So, look forward to that, or maybe don't. Idk. Sorry.

The sun rose on Pandora, brilliant, scalding, unbearable. On the horizon, mountains were silhouetted by the red orange sky, casting long shadows across the landscape, those underneath the shade would be grateful for the chill, but not until it had passed. Even in these early hours there were people-- if you could call them that-- moving; bandit camps were running rampant with violence and cannibalism, as they always did. Far away from them, in the decaying city that was once known as Opportunity, people were gathering around a makeshift arena where they could watch what was left of Hyperion get brutalized by gladiators. At the front of the line to the entrance of this arena was a woman, clad in heavy and dark robes, an entourage of similarly dressed people following close behind. Her name was Maya, and she was dancing on the tips of her toes to witness something bloody and gruesome before she'd be stuck on Athenas for the rest of her life, like the entire planet was her very own ball and chain. Of course the leaders of The Order of the Impending Storm were skeptical about letting her off planet, but she fought them and in the end they couldn’t deny her. Now was her one and only shot at freedom from the damned cult, and she was _not_ going to let it go to waste. Now, she didn't know much about life off of Athenas, and while there were things that definitely came as a bit of a shock to her nothing was quite as confusing as to why everyone was so eager on getting into the arena during the morning. Surely the events wouldn’t take place until that evening, it wasn’t until she was inside that she understood why exactly everyone was so pushy. On the outside the arena was lackluster, Maya even thought it was shabby, but inside it was perfectly decorated, the front hall -- yes, a hall-- had a crystal chandelier hanging from the ceiling, with deep blue velvet carpet stretching out towards smaller rooms and hallways. Maya grinned to herself, no longer feeling out of place.

“Alright, you guys made it seem like Pandora was some sorta hell hole but this place is swanky.” She said, lifting her hands to pull her hood down.

She was stopped immediately. “No! Child, you cannot, it will be discovered that you are a Siren.” 

“Ugh who cares if I’m a Siren?” She grumbled back.

Her attendants hushed her. “Keep your voice down!” 

“Whatever, I’m going to go check the place out, you guys… mingle, I guess.” 

Maya stormed off, walking up a grand staircase and up onto the second floor, overlooking the entry hall on one side and the arena on the other. A man in a suit walked up to her and offered to take her cloak, nodding politely when she declined. Upon introducing herself the man stiffened, looking down towards the group she had entered with. 

“And those people are with you as well?” He asked, voice suddenly quavering. 

“That’s right.” Maya replied, waving to them. “They’ll be up here shortly.”

“Good, I’ll show you to your suite then, it is attached to your box as well so that you might watch tonight’s show in comfort.” He told her bowing deeply before turning. 

She followed him silently, catching the eye of the few other patrons, wondering to herself where the hoard from earlier could have disappeared to. Meanwhile, underneath the grand hall, in the common entrance all manner of people were crowding around, one group stood out if only for the tower of a human that was standing near them. 

“Why did we have to come here again?” He asked, avoiding a ceiling beam. 

“Because Brick, we have to shut this place down.” A woman with fiery hair replied, tugging her sweater on tighter.

Another man sighed, taking a swig from a flask. “And why’s that?”

“Seriously Mordy? Because the sick fucks that own this place--” She hushed herself after looking around. “Make innocent people fight until they die for entertainment's sake.”

The tall one scratched his neck. “I don’t see how it’s bad, don’t the people fighting like… sign up for this?” 

“The point is, that there a lot who don’t.” A third man added, turning to the group. “Those are the people we’re helping out.”

The woman sighed. “Thank you Roland, the voice of reason.”

“I resent that.” Mordy responded.

“Alright, Mordecai and Brick, you two go check out the security situation this place has going on. Lilith and I will head down and look for the prisoners.” Roland said, wiping a hand over his bald head. 

Brick let out a heavy sigh. “Fine, I better find something to eat though.”

The four of them split off, wading slowly through the immense crowd towards their destinations, with no real plan for regrouping. 

In the bowels of the arena there was another hoard of people, a smaller group of course, mostly made up of undesirable folks, messed up enough to willingly jump into an arena of cybernetically enhanced people, robots with fire throwers for arms, giant mutated animals, etcetera. A short and muscular man who had been talking loudly on an ECHO just a moment before swaggered towards a sign in booth, the woman behind it gave him a tight smile. 

“Name please.”

“Salvador.”

“Thank you.” She entered it into the system, tapping her fingers while the dinosaur of a machine printed out a rumpled piece of paper with a number on it. “Wait till you are called. NEXT!” 

He took the sheet and sauntered away, replaced by a mysterious and slender person dressed in all black. The woman at the desk gave him the same uninterested speil, only raising an eyebrow after he introduced himself in a haiku as the number zero. 

“Right, take this. NEXT!” 

This time a man walked up, looking rugged but still not quite as roughed up as the rest of the people around him. He had scruff on his chin and a slightly grown out crew cut, he flashed a flirtatious smile at the woman who pursed her lips and asked for his name impatiently. 

“I’m Axton, and you are?” He replied, leaning on the counter.

She typed without looking at him. “Very busy. NEXT!” 

The man walked away, slightly dejected, almost tripping when a much shorter female with pigtails and a robotic arm rushed past him to the counter. 

“The name’s Gaige, this is my first time in an arena like this, I can’t wait to totally murderize some Hyperion loaders.” She said grinning.

The woman at the desk sighed and handed her the paper with her number on it. “Cool story. NEXT!”

The girl ran back to where she was sitting, kicking her legs excitedly as she waited for the daily tournament to begin. Those who had come in voluntarily were kept separate from the ‘Champions’ who had been captured from Hyperion property and used as exposition pieces before the main events. One of those was a burly man, skin pale and discoloured from years of experimentation, his body was littered with scars and marks and he wore a mask, like most of the other victims of Hyperion his mind was not altogether there and he suffered from a cacophony of mental illnesses and disorders. He picked at a scab on his elbow and stared blankly through the one un-patched eye hole in his mask, watching the happy-go-lucky folks on the other side of the fence who got to leave once the day was done, who got to be connected to the respawn stations so that death wouldn’t be the end of them. The ones who despite being just as human as him were treated, well, like humans. He growled, flinching when another one of the experiments smacked against him. It was a skag, a small one, based on the pattern of it’s fur it was an adult, it wouldn’t last through today's fights. 

“You smell like my little girl!” He snarled at it. 

The skag backed away and whimpered, stopping when the man held out his hand to it. It sniffed, then licked his palm, hopping up in excitement before running into him, rearing and trying to climb into his lap.

“The mighty meat child is enraged!” The man cries, laughing as he is knocked onto his back. 

A handler slams the butt of a gun into the metal bars near the man’s head and the skag screeches, scratching the man’s bare chest as it skitters away. 

“Calm down in there, you’ll get your chance.” 

Hours had passed, Maya was sitting bored in her room, phase-locking odd flying creatures that she had never seen before. She didn’t kill them, just froze them in place and watched as the person shaped specks down in the villages below shot them out of the sky.

“This is dumb!” She yelled, throwing herself onto a couch. Now that she had really got the chance to look around the things she had thought were so nice were actually run down, almost ratty. The couch she was on was no exception, at first glance it was a nice auburn velvet but once she was on it she could smell the must of water damage and the soft looking material was actually irritating to her skin. Her entourage had left to tour the surrounding area, telling her that she must stay up and out of sight so no one could find out her true identity. That was The Order’s only condition, that she didn’t do anything that would put her at risk. _They’ll treat you differently on Pandora, possibly even try to kill you. And I know you are strong child, but you are not invincible, you have only just begun digging into that well of power of yours._ She rolled her eyes at the memory and kicked her legs up in the air. Pandora was huge, it’s days were longer than the ones on Athenas. She was going to die of boredom before she could even watch the show. Suddenly one of her followers burst into the room with a box of pizza and a huge smile on his face. He was one of the Order’s newer members and so he was unaccustomed to the formality in which the others showed Maya, which was overwhelmingly refreshing to her. 

“Maya! Look, food! I figured you’d be hungry by now, here have your fill.” He said handing her the box. 

She bit into the hot cheese and soggy bread, her mouth filling with tang and the smell of tomato. It wasn’t the best she’d ever had but she enjoyed every mouthful. Maya tapped the kid on the arm as if to say thank you before grabbing another slice and tearing into it. She hadn’t even realized how hungry she had been, or the rest of her group walking in and staring at her with appalled faces.

“Child! What are you doing eating that filth!” One of them shouted, taking the box and throwing it out the window. 

Maya wiped the sauce off her chin. “Wow, unnecessary.” 

“Your body is a temple! And here you are digging into… into whatever that horrible smelling thing was.” He shouted, hands above his head.

She stood, anger seeping into her eyes. “It was pizza, and I am _starving_ , and since none of _you_ twats thought to bring me something to eat I was so _thankful_ to brother Mason here for bringing me _anything_ , but _you_ just threw it out the window.”

“Ch-Child I’m sorry… we should have been more thoug--” 

“Damn fucking straight.” She spat. “Get me something to drink. I’m going to tidy up and get ready for the event tonight.” 

__

She stormed off towards the small bathroom, smiling to herself about how scattered they all were. One of them was even thanking Mason profusely, she laughed and got undressed, stepping into the shower and jumping out of the too hot stream of water that immediately assaulted her upon turning on. After a second it cooled and she dipped under the stuttering torrent, letting it hammer away the tension in her muscles. When she got out she felt renewed and soft and bright, she walked through the room towards the bag she had brought, dropping her towel and slipping into a yellow and grey bodysuit and a pair of combat pants. 

__

“Alright, the arena looks lively, I'm going to go down and check things out.” She said, zipping herself up. 

__

There was no sounds of protest, just shuffling as Mason was shoved towards her with a small green bottle of what was labelled as mineral water. 

__

“Cool thanks.” 

__

Maya trudged downstairs, whistling to herself as she looked around, stopping just as a man walked out from the washrooms. He looked down at her with a smirk on his lips. 

__

“Oh hello.” He started, leaning against the wall in front of her. 

__

Maya tried not to roll her eyes. “Hi, would you mind if I just,” she pointed behind him. 

__

“Of course,” he stepped aside. “Might I ask what a flower like you is doing here?” 

__

She almost choked on her laughter. “I'm here to watch the fights.” 

__

“Wow, wouldn't take a beauty like you for a gore lover.” 

__

“Books and covers and all that.” She replied dismissively. 

__

He continued to walk next to her. “I'm Axton, I'll be in the fights today.” 

__

“Oh really? You don't look like much of a gladiator though.” She said back with a touch of satisfaction. 

__

Axton scratched the back of his neck. “Ah well, the prize money is a great motivator.” 

__

"Right well, I guess you're right about that." 

__

His eyes went to the blue marks on her hand.”So uh, is that an aesthetic choice or?” 

__

“What? Oh!” She tucked it into her pocket. “I'm just…. I think Sirens are cool. That's lame though right? It's not like getting the marks tattooed on me is gonna make me a Siren or anything.” 

__

Axton gave her a kind smile. “Nah, it's cool to like things.” 

__

“Yeah so um… I gotta go back to my box to watch the fights so yeah… it was nice talking to you.” She said, turning away from him. 

__

He nodded. “Likewise.” 

__

They parted and he stopped, turning to look back at her once he registered what she said. He shook his head, no way a girl like that had enough money for a box. Right? It didn’t matter he was meant to be joining the other fighters now and get ready for the coming battle royale. An alarm went off and the room that the fighters were standing in went dark, through the walls they could hear the announcer’s voice booming as he riled up the crowd. 

__

“I AM MISTER TORGUE AND THIS THE PANDORA GAUNTLET! SETTLE IN FOR A NIGHT OF GORE, EXPLOSIONS, AND HUUUUUGE CASH PRIZES!! NOW, LET’S MEET! OUR! CHAMPIONS!!” 

__

When the gate finally opened they were pushed out by a plume of thick scarlet fog. They stumbled into the arena and were immediately barraged by laser turrets, those too slow to protect themselves were shot down. 

__

“Jeez.” Axton mumbled, shooting one of the turrets into oblivion. 

__

Gaige was laughing to herself as she threw strange little gadgets at the guns that grew until they crushed the machines underneath them. The smoke cleared and only ten of the initial forty had survived, the rest of the bodies had been digistructed near the exit where a “GOODBYE LOSER” sign awaited them. The announcer’s voice roared back onto the speakers announcing that the next round would be starting shortly. The same blaring alarm sounded off again and now doors opened up, yellow smoke pouring from the darkness before large robots shambled out and into the arena. There were scattered cheers and booing from the crowd, a few drinks thrown into the ring as well. One of the survivors; Salvador, immediately jumped into action, raising two assault rifles and mutilating a HOTLoader as it stumbled towards him. It’s arms clanged to the ground and he finished it off, guffawing the entire time. More cheers erupted from the crowd and Salvador turned to bask in the glory, grabbing a cup of beer as it was hurled at him and chugging what was left before going back to action. 

__

Zer0, the tall mysterious one from before was taking down robots left and right, none of them fast enough to catch up to the swift moving figure and his digistructed blade. Many of them had fallen in a short time. 

__

“HOW UNPRECEDENTED! ARE OUR LOADERS LOSING THEIR GRIT OR ARE THESE GLADIATORS GETTING STRONGER!? WE’LL SEE IN THE NEXT ROUND!!!” The announcer boomed. 

__

Lilith nodded at Roland who was standing a few feet from her and they disappeared in the crowd heading towards the cages. A woman in a uniform shouted that they were in restricted area, running after them only to lose them after they turned left into a dead end. 

__

“How in the….” She walked down the hall and looked around before shaking her head. 

__

Lilith smirked proudly. “Ah, yeah phase-shifting is awesome see?”. 

__

“Yeah, now let me go.” Roland grumbled back. 

__

She did so, stuttering out an awkward apology and a laugh before clearing her throat and going back to walking down towards the cells where countless people were being held against their will. Lilith focused on her objective, still buzzing a bit in the chest and stomach, she knew her and Roland wouldn't ever go back to how things used to be, but she wanted to try. Her thoughts came crashing back to the mission when Roland whisper-shouted her name harshly. 

__

“Seriously Lil, I need you focused, this is a matter of life or death.” He told her. 

__

She smirked and nodded. “Yes, right. Sorry.” 

__

He set a hacking device over the locking mechanism and smiled as the locks slowly slide back into their chamber. 

__

“Perfect, let's go. Send a quick ECHO to Brick and Mordecai.” 

__

Lilith nodded and did that, following him into the dimly lit hallway. She walked on behind him as she typed, stopping when her ECHO thumped against his back. 

__

She looked up. “Hey what's the hold up Ro-- oh God.” 

__

On either side of them were cells crammed full of mutated animals and people. Men, women and children all sitting or standing, violet pouring from their eyes or ears, some covered in blisters and burn scars, others completely disfigured from acid burns and deformed from slag injections. The animals whined and shuffled in their cages, some roaring or growling and ramming against the bars or light shield that kept them entrapped. Lilith covered her mouth with one hand, the other resting on her stomach. 

__

“I-I'm going to be sick.” she whispered. 

__

Roland patted her shoulder. “We don't have time, we need to think. This is worse than we ever could have imagined.” 

__

“We have to help them, oh God there are still kids here Roland.” Her eyes filled with anger. “I'm blasting them out.” 

__

He grabbed her hand. “No! Be smart about this Lilith, some of these people are too far gone, and none of these animals are safe to let out.” 

__

“You can't be serious right now! We came to save all of them! We can't just pick and choo--” 

__

“Listen to me, I know we want to save everyone but some of these people… they're not people anymore. They're gonna come out of here and attack us or run off and attack other people. They're going to become psychos and cannibals and murderers. Trust me Lil. We have to be smart about this.” 

__

She stared up at him, her eyebrows coming together and her expression becoming dark before she pulled her hand away from him and turned, running towards the release button. Roland shouted after her and tried to grab her again but she was too fast. An alarm went off and barred doors ground open slowly, light shields disintegrated and suddenly they were surrounded. 

__

“THAT'S THE SECOND EVENT PEOPLE!” The announcer shouted. “WE’RE DOWN TO FIVE CONTESTANTS NOW, LET’S GET TO KNOW THEM!!” 

__

The announcer walked out onto the bloody sand of the arena floor, a spot light trained on him as he approached the five. 

__

“OUR FIRST CONTESTANT! HE HASN'T STOOD OUT MUCH AND I DON'T KNOW HOW HE MADE IT THIS FAR!” The shirtless man shouted, before smacking the boy on the back. 

__

The kid let out a huff and stumbled forward, passing out immediately. Everyone exchanged awkward glances and whispers as his body disintegrated into light. Finally the announcer clapped his hands together. 

__

“WELL! I GUESS WE'RE DOWN TO FOUR! ALRIGHT, INTRODUCE YOURSELVES!!” 

__

Gaige waltzed into the spotlight and took the mic from the announcer. 

__

“Hello! I'm Gaige, and I came here to show off my awes-mazing robots and to win some major cash.” She said with a flourish. 

__

The announcer reached for the mic, letting out a huff as it was whisked into another person's hands. Salvador cleared his throat and introduced himself simply, just giving his name before tossing the mic back to the announcer. He reached for it only for the mysterious gladiator to appear out of nowhere and grab it from the air. He held it in front of him for a moment, up to where a mouth was, presumably, under his mask. 

__

“My name is Zer0/ I am here for I desire/ true combat, and blood.” 

__

He nodded and handed off the mic to the last contender. “I guess we saved the best for last. Hey I’m Axton and uh yeah… I’m here for the money.” 

__

"ALRIIIIIIIIGHT! WE WILL TAKE A SHORT BREAK, AND THEN EACH OF OUR GLADIATORS ARE GONNA HAVE A ONE ON ONE WITH YOUR VERY FAVOURITE HYPERION EXPERIMENTS!!” Torgue shouted into the mic. “IN THE MEANTIME WHO’S READY FOR A SKAG FEST!” 

__

The crowd erupted into cheering and applause and Mister Torgue was lifted out of the arena on a small platform to continue his commentary from the safety of a box. The four champions were shuffled into a back room off the side of the battle area. Salvador was the first to settle onto the velvet couch, his short legs lifting off the ground as he stretched his arms across the back of the couch. 

__

“Ah, now that was a good time.” He said, closing his eyes. 

__

Gaige was picking at a loose thread in her stockings. “I dunno, I’ve made robots that are tougher. As you all saw.” 

__

“I mean that robot thing was cool but it can’t hold a candle to my lady.” Axton said back, patting the Dahl pack on his hip. “I mean really though, it’s not your fault.” 

__

The girl pursed her lips at him. “My Deathtrap is cooler than a stupid gun.” 

__

“Nothing can compare/ to my finesse and stealth/ that is a true art.” Zer0 spoke up from the back of the room. 

__

The other three glanced over at him, Salvador shrugged. “Skulking around is cool and all but nothing beats blowing off heads left and right.” 

__

“Literally nothing is cooler than a giant murderer robot!” Gaige grumbled, kicking the stool in front of her. 

__

Axton laughed. “Sure thing kid.” 

__

The walls shook and the lights flickered as a skag was hurled against the arena wall. Underneath them Lilith was being wrestled to the ground by the biggest psycho she had ever seen, he was shoving a massive hand in her face and growling, pushing her head into the floor over and over. Suddenly he screeched and went limp, falling sideways. Lilith gasped and shot upright, looking at the army knife buried in his skull. 

__

“I told you!” Roland said, pulling her to her feet. 

__

She rolled her eyes. “Is now really the time for that?” 

__

“I guess not, I’ll lecture you if we live through thi--” 

__

He got tossed sideways by a stalker, Lilith pulled a pistol from her hip and started shooting, aiming only for the things that would attack her. Something touched her hand and she turned on her heel, aiming right between the eyes of a weeping woman. 

__

“N-No!” She cried. “Please!” 

__

Lilith relaxed and focused back on the woman. “Are you alright?” 

__

“I-I am, what are you doing? Why are you shooting us?” She asked, still crying. 

__

Roland called after her and Lilith squeezed her eyes shut. “I… I will answer you in a second but right now-” 

__

A man hurled himself at her, spit flying from his mouth, blood and slag coating his finger tips. Lilith shot him in the throat, watching him crumple and choke before dying. Roland had taken care of the hoard for the most part, the only people left were the ones cowering in the cells and the animals that had stayed behind in their enclosures. 

__

“God dammit Lilith, this is why I didn’t want to just release them all like this. They’re terrified now.” Roland spat, walking up to her. 

__

She flinched. “I know… I’m sorry, I didn’t think. Still, we can help those who are left can’t we?" 

__

“What the-- WHO THE FUCK ARE YOU!?” A man shouted from the doorway. 

__

Roland raised his gun and Lilith looked away as the shot connected with it’s target. 

__

“This wasn’t supposed to go so badly. ECHO Mordecai and Brick, get them ready with the trucks to get these folks out of here. The animals will be going with a doctor I met a while back, she’ll take care of them.” 

__

He turned and walked into a cell, calming the man there and giving him a short explanation before asking him to help gather the others. Many of them weren’t coherent or able to really understand words but they didn’t try and fight, only gathered with the people they had been around for who knows how long. 

__

Upstairs Maya was sitting with her legs up eating some sort of fruit and watching the fighting going on. A skag rammed a robot into the ground and was making quick work of ripping up it’s armour to get at the circuitry. She laughed. 

__

“This is just as great as I thought it was gonna be.” She said, fruit juice dripping down her chin. 

__

The monks squirmed in their seats behind her. “Child, have you had your fill? This is a gruesome display, surely you’re not enjoying watching this?” 

__

“ Of course I am! I mean, it’s gratuitous and bloody but man it’s entertaining. Plus I wanna know who wins in the end.” 

__

Just as she said that there was a blaring alarm. The announcer shouted that the next round would finally begin and Maya leaned forward in her seat. 

__

“THE MOMENT YOU’VE BEEN WAITING FOR! HERE! COME! YOUR! BADASSES!!!!” 

__

Sparks flew and the lights flashed, smoke filled the arena and each door opened, a different cage emerging from each one. 

__

“NOW, AS PER USUAL, EACH OF OUR CONTESTANTS WILL CHOOSE WHICH BADASS THEY WANT TO VERSE. THE PERSON WHO GOES FIRST IS THE ONE WHO DRAWS THE HIGHEST NUMBER! COME ON OUT GLADIATORS!” 

__

They trailed out from a smaller door, playing to the crowd as they approached Mister Torgue. Each of them grabbed a ball from a hat, the first pick went to Zer0. He didn’t take long considering the opponents and stalked over to the cage holding what looked like a man with robotic eyes, he was missing his arms and legs, the ends of the stumps had silver plates on them with a glowing blue socket in the centre. He growled and hunched forward to glare at Zer0 with his mechanical eyes and smiled. 

__

“Target death imminent.” He garbled in a synthetic voice. 

__

Zer0 nodded. Axton was next, and he took his time in walking around each cage before going with the strange man sitting hunched over in his cage, his hands restrained behind his back and his face wrapped up in a cloth bag. Next was Salvador, who sauntered up to the largest cage which housed a sedated but giant female skag who thrashed about violently even in her sleep. Gaige grumbled to herself and stomped over to the last of the cages that had a thresher curled up in it, she leaned against the bars only to jump away when the beast slashed at her from behind it. 

__

“ALRIGHT! LET’S GET TO THE BATTLES ALREADY! I AM TIRED OF WAITING!!” 

__

The other cages and fighters were cleared from the arena floor and Zer0 and his opponent were left in a sort of face off. Just before the fight began the entire room went dark save for red flashing lights. When they came back the man who hadn’t been much more than a torso was now a towering thirteen feet, armed to the teeth with Hyperion cybernetics. The crowd began to chant his name; _WILHELM, WILHELM, WILHELM!_

__

“Meet your maker.” He shouted. 

__

Zer0 blinked out of existence for a moment before appearing again, sword in hand. Wilhelm opened up a barrage on him, his robot eyes glowing brilliantly as lasers locked onto the dark figure. The cyborg guffawed as his eye fried his puny target, choking when tiny blades landed in the flesh that he had left, exploding with elemental rage. He coughed and stumbled forward, looking around for the source, only to be stabbed in the back of the neck by Zer0, who had appeared on his back as if he had been there the entire time. Wilhelm tried to shake him off, spinning and bucking only to fall heavily onto his knees once Zer0 shoved the remaining few inches of the sword through Wilhelm’s neck. The crowds chanting stopped as the cyborg collapsed, face down into the sand, only to erupt into a mixture of booing and elated cheers. Zer0’s sword deconstructed itself. 

__

"A disappointment/ I had thought you would have more fight/ how unfortunate.” 

__

Axton stared from his spot, annoyed at how impressed he was. As Zer0 passed he raised his hand for a high five, which was met gracefully by the tall and mysterious… thing that Zer0 was. The floor was cleared of the corpse and the next cage was wheeled out. Axton stood, an assault rifle in one hand, his other on the Dahl pack on his hip. The same light show went off, and now the man who was in the cage was unrestrained, a blood stained buzz axe in one hand and a bundle of dynamite in the other. He was wearing a mask now, one of the eyes had been patched with a belt that also served to fasten the mask to his head. The one visible eye was bloodshot, and blood thirsty. The regular audience members were at the edges of their seats. It had been a while since they saw Krieg fight. 

__

“I’m gonna swallow your throat badass.” He threatened, fastening the dynamite to his axe before charging. 

__

Axton flinched backwards, tossing the turret forward, watching it unfold and immediately start bombarding Krieg with bullets. The crowd was cheering again. He grunted and jumped out of the way, junning just a head of the bullet shower before diving and running the other direction, taking bullets like they were butterfly kisses. Axton, stepped back, shooting while watching in growing horror as each bullet perforated the man but failed to down him. Suddenly the turret was blown to pieces, Krieg stood bleeding and panting, the ammo belt in his free hand. 

__

_RAMPAGE! RAMPAGE! RELEASE THE BEAST!! WE WANNA SEE A MONSTER!!_

__

The man let out a spine tingling roar, and the onlookers all roared with him as one arm stretched out in front of him, his body inflated with muscle. Slag began to pour from beneath his mask and his bandaged arm. They all lost their minds right along with him, screaming as he lunged at Axton, swinging blindly but always hitting, causing Axton to fall to one knee, shooting at the mutant with wide eyes. Krieg jumped back, his hands shaking as he shrunk back down and fell onto all fours, panting and groaning, he hated being in that state for too long but he hadn’t managed to kill Axton fast enough, if he tried to rage like that any longer, he wouldn’t be able to come back down. Axton took the opportunity to lay a shot aimed at the psycho’s temple. Before the bullet could escape the barrel Axton was lifted into the air, surrounded by pulsing blue and white light. Maya stared from her box, her fist closed around a ball of energy. 

__

“Child! What are you thinking!?” One of the monks shouted from behind her. 

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The people in the bleachers began to panic, many of them making a mad dash for the doors. Many of them screaming to look out for the Siren. Maya watched as Krieg stood and raised his axe to take out the ex-soldier, only to whack himself in the forehead and run off to the nearest exit instead. Axton fell, gripping his throat and gasping for air before looking around for the source of his pain, only to pushed towards an exit by a frantic Gaige. 

__

“I knew we shouldn’t have let you leave Athenas, who knows what will become of this! Come now, we are heading to Athenas at once, you don’t belong out here!” The monk said, grabbing Maya’s shoulder. 

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She shoved him back and he stumbled over a table. “No! I’m not going back, none of you can make me.” 

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Before the monk could even stand Maya had wrapped him in her energy, squeezing until his face went grey and his eyes fluttered shut. He fell dead and the rest of the monks scattered, only to be cornered like rats in a maze. Maya took them out one by one before turning to brother Mason. 

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“That was really cool, please don't kill me.” He begged, voice shaking and a wet spot growing steadily underneath him. 

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Maya pretended she didn’t see it. “I won’t, I need you to tell the order… I don’t know, something. Or don’t, either way just get out of here, it’s not safe.” 

__

He nodded and ran for the door. Maya left, taking her time to make sure she had scavenged every last dollar from the brothers’ luggage. She found a pistol and a shield as well, and once she had figured out how to turn the damn thing on she was flying out the door, her arm still singing with heat. Her face was bright under the shadow of the hood, and her mouth was turned up in a satisfied grin. 

__

Outside Lilith, Roland and Mordecai were all ushering prisoners onto a massive bank truck, they watched the chaos from an out of the way loading area, having taken out all of the security workers manning the area. Brick signalled that they were clear to go and the three hopped into the back with the smuggled people, speeding away towards the small towns that littered the horizon. 

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“Ha! We did it!” Lilith said, wiping her forehead. 

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Roland dragged a hand over his face. “I guess we did.” 

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“Yeah, yeah, I need a drink.” Mordy grumbled, leaning his head back. 

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Lilith grinned at him. “Sure, I’ll treat.” 

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Salvador sat in the back of a truck, a grenade launcher resting on his legs. 

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“Aw man, I didn’t even get to kill anything.” He groaned. 

__

Gaige crossed her arms. “You’re telling me, I paid a grand to get into that contest and I left with nothing! Zilch! What a crock of bullshit.” 

__

“Twas a true failure/ of grandiose proportions/ what a waste of time.” Zer0 added in from the driver's seat. 

__

Axton rolled his eyes. “At least you got to go against your final boss, I got freaking force choked halfway through my fight.” 

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“Yeah, but you woulda lost anyway, did you see that guy!? He tore through you like you were paper! Man that was so cool!” Gaige crowed, smacking her knees. 

__

Salvador nodded, scratching his chin under his beard. “It’s true, that guy is famous on Pandora for being a ruthless gladiator. He’s had consecutive wins since he first debuted.” 

__

“Whatever, I woulda been his first loss then.” Axton mumbled back defensively. 

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The short and scruffy man laughed. “Only loss. The folks that fight there don’t get reconstructed, they just die and get burned in a pit out back.” 

__

“What a deep message/ where life ends so truly/ only for the weak.” 

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The teenager pursed her lips. “I mean, that’s how it is on most planets right? Unless you’re like, military or rich I guess." 

__

“True enough.” Salvador said, spitting off the side of the truck. 

__

Maya dove behind a sand covered building in time to miss the truck that almost mowed her down. She grumbled as she dusted herself off and cursed at them to herself before walking over to the campsite she saw in the distance. Suddenly a hand grabbed her from behind, covering her mouth and pulling her back harshly into the shadows of a windmill. She brought her elbow back hard and heard a grunt, the hand on her mouth loosened its grip and she took the chance to land a swift kick to her attacker’s diaphragm before phase-locking them a foot above the ground. Her eyes widened when she recognized him as the man from the arena, the one the soldier looking man had fought, she let him go and he fell on his ass, hacking loudly. 

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"I WANNA MAKE A DRESS OUT OF THAT PRETTY LITTLE SMILE!” He shouted. 

__

Maya backed away from him. 

__

"DO YOU EVER WANNA KICK THE MOON? SHE ALWAYS TRIES TO STEAL MY SPLEEN!” 

She pointed the pistol at him and he put both his hands out as if to surrender, growling to himself in a seemingly frustrated way before turning in a small circle and smacking his head against the windmill. 

“BLOOD BOYS LIE IN WAIT, GOTTA WATCH YOUR STEP SUNBEAM!” 

Maya blinked. “Uh, what?” 

The man pointed at where she was going before miming a gun with two fingers and pretending to shoot himself in the head with it, throwing himself back dramatically. 

“THEY’LL FEAST ON YOUR FRESH AND TASTY MEATS.” 

Her eyes lit up with realization. “Oh! You’re trying to warn me.” 

“NIPPLE SALADS!!” 

Maya smirked. “I think I’ll be fine though, I have a gun and I don’t know if you noticed but, I’m kind of a Siren.” 

“BLUE TATTOO!!” He cried. “BUT THE MEAT HAS BEEN PREPARED!” 

The sun had long sunk behind the mountains and the sky wouldn’t be getting lighter any time soon. The air was bitter and cold and Maya couldn’t imagine somehow digging her way into one of the abandoned houses or walking back to the arena for shelter. 

“I’ve got no choice.” She said, turning to head to the camp. 

Krieg grumbled and smacked his head in frustration before jogging to her side. Maya glanced at him and raised an eyebrow, not stopping him from joining her. 

“Alright I guess,” She started. “If you’re gonna join me it’s only fair I introduce myself. My name is Maya.” 

Krieg struggled for a moment, smacking the butt end of his axe into his forehead before shaking like a dog trying to dry itself. 

“KRIEG!” He shouted, kicking up a dust cloud. 

Maya smiled at him. “Cool.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't know what happened, I guess I must have messed up somehow, but the chapter is back to how it's meant to be so that's good.... I'm new to this site... yeah...


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